from a minivan with love

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A little over ten years ago, we were young, in love, and planning our wedding. I might have to say that was the best time of our lives. We loved traveling and adventure, and wanted to get married in Ireland. When that didn’t work out, we vowed we would renew our vows in Ireland on…

Since surprises are the best, and our kids get rowdy with anticipation, we completely took them by surprise when taking them for a year-long-planned adventure to Arizona. We were “still unpacking” from our trip the weekend before, so the suitcases raised no suspicions. We got everything ready, and scooped them into the car at 4:00am. …

As I send my second son off to kindergarten, I realize it was this time 30 years ago that I started kindergarten. Some may be surprised at how much I remember about kindergarten. I was in the classroom closest to the playground, before they rebuilt that end of campus. My teacher was Miss Cathy, though…

I don’t know how I neglected to post about my baby going off to school last November, but I suppose the holidays got me distracted. It was super hard to say good-bye to him, but he loved it, and it was only for a few hours a day. He was so ready. Everyone continuously said…

My seven year old is really enjoying swim lessons, to the point of taking it very seriously. I love watching him work this hard and truly feel good about it. To encourage his enthusiasm in his hobby, garner some Olympic spirit, and impress him with the results of hard work, I collected information about a…

As I go through pictures of my kids, I’m grateful to have so many, but can’t help but wonder if they will ever remember me as a young person, as I’m in almost none of them! I cherish my childhood photos with my young parents and grandparents. I want my kids to have that too.…

Last August, we had the opportunity to visit the local CBS studios with my dad. We got a tour from the head guy over there, and we got to see EVERYTHING! We got to see the bustling newsroom, and the “newsroom desk” that can be changed to replicate the top anchor’s desk in New York.…

I’m really playing catch-up. Didn’t realize so many things have happened. Last spring, both big boys were in the kids’ choir. They are both shy, so I expected them to quietly participate with their own serious ways. Boy, did they surprise me! My oldest sang his heart out at a volume we could actually hear. …

So, this is what a 24-hour electroencephalogram (EEG) looks like. Last spring, our baby’s therapists, pediatrician, and now pediatric neurologist wanted to be sure his tensing up wasn’t something serious, so she ordered a 24-hour EEG. Rest assured, it turned out normal and everything is fine. He just gets some sensory overflow every now and…

Last spring, my oldest son’s class incubated chicken eggs and got to watch them hatch! If that wasn’t awesome enough, we got to take turns taking them home and caring for them! We were lucky enough to have them twice and see how fast they grow. We were sad to say good-bye, but we’ll always…